June 1/97 23:18 pm - Canada Cup #1, Bastion Square, Euro News

Posted by Editor on 06/1/97

All Season Sports CANADA CUP #1 - Cross Country

Yesterday, at the Downhill, riders were anxiously watching the sky - hoping that the rain would hold off until after their run. There was no need to do that today at the cross-country - it started raining last night, and didnÃ¢â‚¬Å¡t stop all day. The 10 kilometre course remained surprisingly rideable, with the top riders saying that there were very few sections that required dismounts. The mud did make the race harder, turning former fast hardpack sections into gluey, sticky slogs.

All three of the top categories (Junior Expert Men, Pro Elite Men and Pro Elite Women) were on the course at the same time, offering spectators the opportunity to have frontrunners blasting past them almost constantly. All three races followed a similar pattern: a couple of riders at the front attacking, then one crashing or flatting, leaving the other to ride on to victory.

In the 4 lap Junior race it was the Downhill winner from the day before, Dustin Adams of Norco who won, with his early breakmate Ryder Hesjedal (Kona) crashing in the singletrack that made up the middle part of the course. Adams had only one serious challenge mounted towards the end of the race, by local Paris, Ontario rider Ryan Dey (The Bicycle Shop). Unfortunately, after closing to within 30 seconds, Dey flatted at the start of the last lap. Gilles Corbeil (Olympia/Rocky Mountain) rode strongly into second place, 40 seconds in arrears.

The womenÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s 4 lap race was won, as expected, by Ritchey pro Chrissy Redden. ReddenÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s biggest challenge was fellow pro Melanie McQuaid (Rocky Mountain) and, indeed, McQuaid attacked from the gun and lead through the first half lap of the race. Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Melanie was riding strong, so I just stayed on her wheelÃ¢â‚¬Â°, said Redden. Ã¢â‚¬Å¾But I could see she wasnÃ¢â‚¬Å¡t riding the singletrack well today, and after she went down in one spot I went by and gapped her.Ã¢â‚¬Â° McQuaid was more succinct: Ã¢â‚¬Å¾I sucked in the singletrack. I just couldnÃ¢â‚¬Å¡t get going, even though I felt strong at the start. As the race went on I could see that I wasnÃ¢â‚¬Å¡t going to get Chrissy, so I just rode my race for second.Ã¢â‚¬Â° Trish Sinclair (Kona) took third place.

The Elite menÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s field was led from the line by Neil Grover (Rocky Mountain), the winner of last weekÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s Camp Fortune race. With two laps (of 5) completed, Grover had a comfortable 25-30 second lead on second place Bill Hurley (Schwinn). The disaster struck: Ã¢â‚¬Å¾I got a flat, and when I put my spare in my CO2 cartridge broke off the valve stem of spare tube, so that was it.Ã¢â‚¬Â° Hurley rode steadily and consistently about 40 seconds ahead of a chasing group of Peter Wedge (Kona), Seamus McGrath (Kona), Eric Tourville (Oryx) and Keith Stark (Norco), until the chasers began to split up half way through the fourth lap. Tourville moved into second and began to close the gap, but Hurley responded: Ã¢â‚¬Å¾I could see Eric across some of the switchbacks, and he was getting close, but I was able to find enough in my legs to get through the final lap.Ã¢â‚¬Â° Hurley came across the line with a wide grin, winning his first ever Canada Cup after years of coming close.

Race Notes:

Redden says that unfortunately she will not be racing the rest of the Canada Cup, since her U.S.-based team wants her in the Norba races. This should put McQuaid into the lead after next weekend (lÃ¢â‚¬Å¡Anse St-Jean)

The number of road racers switching to mountain biking seems to keep increasing. In addition to Peter Wedge, Jacques Landry (Excellence Sports/HarveyÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s) took part today. Landry, a road Olympian from Atlanta, says that he will be doing most of the Canada Cup this year. Ã¢â‚¬Å¾I need to work on the technical stuffÃ¢â‚¬Â°, he said, after finishing 11th in his first ever Canada Cup.

Full results for all categories except those run late this afternoon are provided at the end of this posting. The missing results are being provided by the organizer tomorrow.

Nearly 700 riders took part in todayÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s race, despite the rain.

Bastion Square Grand Prix by Marc Morrison

Although SaturdayÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s Road Race on the `94 Commonwealth Games course was cancelled late in the week todayÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s Bastion Square Cycling Grand Prix saw a world class turnout. Lesley Tomlinson (Kona), currently ranked 4th on the MTB UCI rankings, and Saeco-Timex teammates (world champion) Alison Sydor and Susy Pryde were the obvious favorites, with outside chances going to Sarah Neil (who took out a one day license for the event when told that the prizes from the cancelled road race would be added to the WomenÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s criterium), American up-and-comer Odessa Gunn and Kathleen Millar from London ON.

The 35 lap race exploded at the start with the Saeco-Timex duo at the front reducing the front group down to 16 when Sydor let her New Zealand team-mate ride away with 29 laps remaining. The 1996 Killington and 97 Redlands stage race winner quickly moved to a 15 second gap and waited for Sydor to join her. Unfortunately for Sydor, she was marked, and the pack would not let her get away. PrydeÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s gap gradually increased to a maximum of 45 seconds by the end of the race. Sydor took the field sprint for 2nd place over fellow Vancouverite Andrea Hannos, with Sophie St. Jacques of Boucherville, Quebec in 4th, and Odessa Gunn rounding out the top 5.

In the 70 lap menÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s race it was Canadian Mountain Bike Champion Roland GreenÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s (Kona) duty to equal his win the previous year, when he chased down SaturnÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s Brian Walton (from a lap ahead at the mid point of the race). This year Walton was absent, but former National Mountain Bike Champ Andreas Hestler (Rocky Mountain) was anxious to steal the limelight away from his training partner.

17 laps into the 63km Crit the racing began with Hestler and EdmontonÃ¢â‚¬Å¡s Dan Wood moving into a 5 second lead over a group of four that contained two local criterium specialists, Mike Korb and Bob Cameron, which in turn had a 10 second lead over the main pack. Missing from the action was Green, who was visibly upset, stuck in the middle of the pack of 30. Then, three laps later, Green made his move. He caught the chase group, then two laps later caught the leading pair (just as the second group was recaptured by the peloton). After 5 laps the trio had built a 30 second lead at which point Green accelerated, dropping Wood and then Hestler a lap later. With 36 laps remaining, Green catches the pack and sprints to win the prime on the same lap. 10 laps later Green attacks again and, just to prove that he truly is in a class of his own in the British Colombia racing scene, he laps the field a second time!

Dan Woods made his second move of the day with 4 laps to go to capture 2nd, while Mike Korb won the field sprint for 3rd spot.

a final time for Roland was unavailable, but during the second half of the race, while he was lapping the field for a second time, he was averaging 60 seconds per lap on a 900 m circuit (approx. 54 km/hr).

Ride for Heart Success

The 10th Annual Ride for Heart, held on the Don Valley Parkway highway in Toronto today was a great success, attracting 12,000 cyclists.